Armenia condemns criminal prosecution of Armenian POWs by Azerbaijan
YEREVAN, May 25. /ARKA/. Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemn the official Baku’s criminal prosecution against Lyudvik Mkrtchyan and Alyosha Khosrovyan, who were captured during the recent aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh.
'Under the international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions, the latter are considered prisoners of war and should have been immediately released after the end of hostilities. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has filed sham criminal cases against them, thus openly violating both the norms of international humanitarian law and its obligations under the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020,' the ministry said in a statement today.
It said despite numerous calls of the international community, Azerbaijan continues to use Armenian prisoners of war as political hostages, and continues the policy of torture and psychological pressure on them.
'It should be noted that Azerbaijan has not yet prosecuted those who have committed atrocities and inhuman treatment towards Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians, including killings, despite the fact that the perpetrators themselves documented their crimes and made them public.
The official Baku blatantly neglects the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on providing information on Armenian servicemen and civilians held in Azerbaijani captivity. As a result, on March 9, 2021 in accordance with Article 39, paragraph 2 of the Rules of Court, the European Court of Human Rights decided to notify the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of its interim measures against Azerbaijan.
The Armenian prisoners of war and civilians held hostage in Azerbaijan, regardless of the circumstances of their captivity, must immediately be released and repatriated without any preconditions.'
The number of Armenian POWs still in custody in Azerbaijan remains unclear. By the end of February 2021, Armenia’s Representative Office at the European Court of Human Rights had asked the court to intervene with Azerbaijan regarding 240 cases of alleged prisoners of war and civilian detainees.
In approximately 90 percent of those cases, the office said, they had provided photo and/or video evidence confirming that Azerbaijani forces had taken these people into custody.
Armenia’s leadership said that Azerbaijan has returned 72 POWs and civilians. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that his government has returned all the POWs to Armenia but was still holding approximately 60 people as terrorism suspects.
According to the Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijani forces abused Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities in Azerbaijan.
“The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and it has failed to account for them.”
Scores of videos showing scenes in which Azerbaijani officers can be seen apparently ill-treating Armenian POWs have been posted to social media. Human Rights Watch closely examined and verified more than 20 of these videos, including through interviews with recently repatriated POWs and family members of servicemen who appear in the videos but have not yet returned. -0-
